What Difference Does a Collar Make?

Reviews the book Conflict, Contradiction, and Contrarian Elements in Moral Development and Education (see record 2004-22391-000). Adolescents resist following rules for reasons they believe do not properly justify compliance: They challenge authority and, consequently, conflicts are exacerbated. Teachers and parents tend to justify obedience to social conventions and conformity to moral behaviors by imposing authority. The social-cognitive domain theory has two central claims that morality, social conventions, and issues of personal prerogatives are distinct developmental domains and that resistance, conflict, and contradictions are normative in human development. Resistance, conflict, and contradictions vary in degree and quality as a function of people's ability to identify and coordinate domain issues in situations of conflict. The idea that we should negotiate conflicts by using a coordination of domain-specific issues for moral education of adolescents is new to educational psychology. When the reviewer reviewed this book, he had these questions in mind: Is this negotiation of domain-issues effective for issues of justice? What is the ethical form of communication that makes this negotiation of views effective for moral development and education? These questions are relevant to the area of moral education. The book addresses resistance and conflict in relation to human development, and educational practices in the family, schools, and society; that is, when external forces curb resistance and conflicts to promote conformity by homogeneity of values. The reviewer strongly recommends this book for professionals in education and parents as well; however, the ethical challenge to find a method for moral education remains unsolved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)